


a cake every thursday brings a boyfriend your way

by yanjunsdimples



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, I hope, I think ???, Love Confessions, M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 03:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15720621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yanjunsdimples/pseuds/yanjunsdimples
Summary: Part-time cafe employee Lin Yanjun falls for the cute college student who comes in every Thursday to order a strawberry cheesecake.





	a cake every thursday brings a boyfriend your way

The soft twinkling of chimes rang through the air as the door to the cafe was pushed open, a group of three college students hurriedly stepping inside to escape from the cold. Looking up from his position behind the counter, Yanjun smiled politely at the customers. He had seen two of the boys around before and somehow memorised their names - Dinghao and Chaoze - due to their routine visits to the cafe. Their store was located conveniently near the local college campus, but not to the point where it was constantly flooded with tired and grumbling twenty-somethings. 

 

Speaking of tired and grumbling twenty-somethings, Dinghao and Chaoze’s friend - Yanjun assumed that he too, was a college student - was anything but that. Most college students he knew, being one himself, had dry skin, were walking corpses with no soul, with eyebags that were centimetres from touching the floor (although Jeffrey claimed his eyebags to be designer). But not this one; he had milky skin, curly brown hair that Yanjun had to resist running his fingers through, a dazzling heart-shaped smile that revealed a pair of adorable bunny teeth, and when his face scrunched up to laugh at a dumb joke that Dinghao told, Yanjun could swear the heavens were blessing his ears with a choir of angels. 

 

Yanjun was snapped out of his thoughts as the trio approached the counter, Dinghao and Chaoze asking for their "usual” coffees. He shifted his gaze to the third, shorter male expectantly, trying his hardest to prevent the corners of his lips from lifting up into a smile - a hard task when you have a cute stranger staring up at the menu on the wall, chewing on his bottom lip, then glancing down at the array of cakes laid in the glass window on the counter. Eventually deciding on a strawberry cheesecake and a cup of iced chocolate, Yanjun guessed the cute boy before him wasn’t much of a coffee person. 

 

“Okay, one strawberry cheesecake and one iced chocolate. May I have your name?”

 

“Zhangjing.”

 

Yanjun’s eyebrow lifted in amusement as he messily scribbled down the unique name on the side of a plastic cup. _Zhangjing. Zhang-jing. A cute name for a cute boy, I guess._

 

It wasn’t until Yanjun overheard a snippet from the trio’s conversation that the soft smile gracing his lips was abruptly dropped from his face. 

 

“I’ve been telling you to go on a diet for weeks and you even agreed to try, You Zhangpang! I guess everyday is cheat day for you, huh?”, Chaoze teased, to which Zhangjing blushed and pulled at his sleeve, playfully whining. “I know I’m fat alright, stop bringing this up!”

 

Yanjun knew they were joking around as friends. Yanjun knew that to them, he was a stranger who had no say in these things. Yanjun also knew, however, how words could hurt no matter how lightheartedly you laugh it off.

 

So gripping the marker tighter with a grimace, Yanjun chose to simply draw a smiley face next to Zhangjing’s name on the cup.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Over time, Yanjun grew used to seeing Zhangjing around. Often, he followed Dinghao and Chaoze’s ventures to the cafe across the week. Zhangjing himself came into the cafe every Thursday alone, never failing to buy a single slice of strawberry cheesecake - sometimes a drink to accompany it - and sat at a table by the window, typing away at his laptop and working on assignments for hours. Yanjun would never admit this to anyone, but he would often take the order off his coworkers’ hands to bring it to the Malaysian boy himself, willing to snatch up any chance available to interact with Zhangjing. On the rare occasion that Yanjun bumped into the smaller boy around campus, he would send a polite smile and nod his way. But after their small talk about the stormy weather on one particular Thursday, Zhangjing somehow slid his way into Yanjun’s routinely lifestyle and refused to budge, as the two began talking more around the cafe. 

 

It became common, expected even, to see Zhangjing push open the cafe doors every Thursday afternoon. And so it was that much more jarring when he didn’t appear one week.

 

Yanjun nervously glanced at the clock on the cafe wall for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past hour. It was currently thirty minutes before closing time, and this was the first Thursday that Zhangjing hadn’t shown up. All customers had already left, and with nothing to do and nobody seeming to come in, his coworkers had begun cleaning up to close for the night. If Yanjun was to be completely honest with himself, he was worried - not that he would admit that to anyone. He started fiddling with the ring on his finger. 

 

_ Twenty nine minutes to go. _

 

Yanjun heard a sudden harsh jangle of the cafe’s wind chimes first, and saw Zhangjing standing in the doorway, panting as if he had just run a marathon, second. The smaller boy recovered his breath as he walked to the counter, gripping the strap of his shoulder bag as he looked up at Yanjun with wide eyes. “Sorry for barging in so late, but are there any cakes left?”, he questioned with a slight pout, as if he knew how weak he made the younger. 

 

Smiling and shaking his head, Yanjun gestured towards the empty glass cabinet. “You might have been a bit too late. All the cakes have been sold out for today”, he pauses to chuckle at Zhangjing's horrified expression at his words, “except this one.”

 

He turns around smoothly to grab a plate that had been hidden from customers’ view - not because he was saving it in the hopes of Zhangjing showing up or anything - presenting a single slice of strawberry cheesecake with a corny and dramatic, “tadah!”

 

Yanjun wouldn’t be told this until a month later, but this was the moment when Zhangjing realised he loved Yanjun.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next week, Yanjun had his back facing away from the door when Zhangjing’s melodic voice was heard along with the windchimes. Turning around to greet the elder boy, he was surprised to find Zhangjing smiling at a girl by his side. 

 

No, he wasn’t jealous, that would be ridiculous - Yanjun doesn’t get jealous. On most occasions, it’s other people who are jealous of him. But Zhangjing's smile directed towards the mysterious girl was just so dazzling and full of sunshine and rainbows, and if he were to be completely honest with himself, she’s quite pretty too, and they look as if they could be a couple - and now that Yanjun thinks of it, he’s never even asked Zhangjing if he’s single—

 

_ Okay fine, perhaps I'm a little jealous.  _

 

No matter the situation, however, Yanjun isn’t the type to act rashly when driven by irrational jealousy. And so he simply watches as Zhangjing tells his most-likely-girlfriend to take a seat first at a table, watches as Zhangjing walks up to him at the counter, watches as Zhangjing shoots him a sweet and tooth-rotting smile, and tries not to melt on the inside. He failed the last step.

 

“One strawberry cheesecake, I’m assuming?”, he asks after clearing his head, Zhangjing nodding to confirm his order. Yanjun takes a deep breath. “What about your girlfriend over there?”

 

He wasn’t sure what was so funny, but Zhangjing seemed to think otherwise, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons, hand coming up to cover his mouth as he giggled. Reaching his other arm over the counter to slap Yanjun on the arm lightly, Zhangjing looked into Yanjun’s confused eyes. “You’re so stupid for assuming that, she’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a partner I’m working with for a project.”

 

Yanjun wasn’t sure whether he should curl up into a ball from embarrassment or punch the air from joy.

 

“Besides, I’m gay and about as single as you can get.”

 

Yanjun waits until Zhangjing turns around, after placing his order, to punch the air.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“One iced americano please.”

 

Yanjun raises an eyebrow as he looks questioningly at Zhangjing. “No strawberry cheesecake today? No sweet sugary drink either? Is this the You Zhangjing that I know?"

 

“Not today”, Zhangjing forces a small smile, shaking his head. "I’ve finally decided to stick to the diet that Dinghao set for me, so maybe I’ll eat cakes every week when I’m skinnier.”

 

Yanjun frowns, worry and concern flooding his mind. But not wanting to hold up the customers in the small line behind Zhangjing, he decides to let it go for now.

 

Minutes later, holding an iced americano and a slice of strawberry cheesecake, Yanjun walks over to Zhangjing’s table beside the window, where the smaller man had his head down and was furiously typing away at what Yanjun assumed was a message to a friend. Seeing the slice of cake being placed upon the table, Zhangjing looked up confusedly, beginning to protest, “I didn’t order thi-", before his protest was cut off upon realisation that Yanjun was sliding into the seat opposite him. 

 

“Why?”

 

“Why what?”

 

“Why did you bring me cake when I didn’t order it?”

 

Shrugging nonchalantly, Yanjun simply replied that he just wanted to. “I don’t always need a reason to do the things that I want, do I? Besides, the cake’s on me, so don’t worry about the price.” Crossing his arms and leaning forward on the tabletop, Yanjun narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to peer into Zhangjing’s soul. “Now, time for me to ask you. Dinghao’s been bugging you about dieting for as long as I can remember, but you never listened to him. So why now?"

 

He watched as Zhangjing fiddled with his fingers under his burning gaze, chewing on his bottom lip, eyes staring down at the table between them as if the wooden structure would provide him with an answer. At moments like this, Yanjun found it difficult not to give in to the smaller boy and take back his confronting question. But this, he needed to know.

 

“It’s because there’s someone I like,” Zhangjing starts slowly, visibly swallowing and licking his lips in an attempt to temporarily moisten the dry surface, “and this might sound stupid, but I’m scared they won’t like me if I’m fat and ugly.”

 

Yanjun’s mind blanks out completely. _Zhangjing likes someone. You Zhangjing likes someone. ~~My You Zhangjing likes someone.~~_  

 

Before he realises it, Yanjun’s mouth is open and spewing his thoughts out to the world.

 

“I’m glad you know how stupid that is, because I don’t know how many things are wrong with that statement. First of all, you are not fat and ugly - you wouldn’t be close even if you tried. Secondly, if this guy you like doesn’t accept you because of your looks, he can go rot in hell, because you’re perfectly fine just the way you are. Also,” he raises a finger to Zhangjing’s lips as the elder opens his mouth with a look of protest, “you don’t need to worry so much! There’s clearly something wrong with anyone who doesn’t like you after getting to know you properly, you can trust me on that.”

 

Yanjun’s eyes widen as the last sentence leaves his mouth, realising a moment too late that he probably sounded a bit too whipped for the man in front of him. 

 

Sheepishly looking up at the Malaysian boy, Yanjun laughs shakily, hoping he wouldn’t interpret his ramblings the wrong way. 

 

 _Perhaps I'm just the slightest bit whipped for Zhangjing, but other people really don’t need to know that._  

 

Greeted by the sight of a faint blush dusted across Zhangjing’s cheeks, a pair of sparkling eyes, and a shy smile, however, Yanjun groaned internally.

 

_ Oh who am I kidding, I’m whipped to hell and back. _

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next Thursday, Zhangjing comes in with an unexpected question for Yanjun.

 

“Why don’t you drop any pickup lines on me?”

 

Yanjun almost drops the cup he was wiping down as he chokes, coughing uncontrollably. Rushing to regain his composure, he splutters, “What do you mean?”

 

Zhangjing seems unfazed, standing his ground as he stares at Yanjun with the beginnings of a frown on his face. “Well I heard Dinghao and Chaoze talking about how they’re sick of your pickup lines, but I’ve never heard any! Am I not worthy or something, Lin Yanjun?”, he challenges, as Yanjun almost physically coos at how cute Zhangjing is when he throws mini tantrums. 

 

_ This is bad, this is bad, this is very very bad. _

 

How was Yanjun meant to explain that he struggles to use pickup lines on someone he genuinely likes? He had always found it easy to flirt with any living and breathing thing - hell, he could even flirt with inanimate objects that weren’t living or breathing - but when his fragile emotions were involved? Yanjun, the same Lin Yanjun known around campus for seeming unapproachable and ice cold, melted into a puddle of soft mush. 

 

Nobody knew of the three nights he spent typing, deleting, and re-typing to perfection his first text to Zhangjing after he had worked up the courage to ask for his number. Nobody knew of how the atmosphere of the cafe seemed to brighten as Zhangjing stepped in, how he had convinced himself of the fluttering wind chimes being the sound of fairy dust - because in Yanjun’s eyes, Zhangjing was the definition of the magical being itself. 

 

But Zhangjing wasn’t meant to know any of this. At least, not now - Yanjun was far from emotionally prepared.  So he blurts out the first excuse to come to mind.

 

“I just haven’t gotten the chance to properly use one on you. But if you want, I can try to think of one for next week.”

 

Yanjun's voice cracked at the end of his suggestion, realising that no, he absolutely did not want to use a pickup line on Zhangjing next week. But before he could take it back, Zhangjing beamed at him like the ball of sunshine Yanjun believed him to be. “Yes, I’d love that! Next week it is, then.”

 

Yanjun couldn’t bear to take his statement back now, not at the risk of losing his favourite smile in the world.

 

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yanjun, are you kidding me right now? Zhangjing literally looks at you like you hung the moon in the sky then collected all the stars for him. Don’t worry so much!”

 

About to come up with a snappy reply for Jeffrey, Yanjun was interrupted by the swinging wind chimes signalling the entrance of Zhangjing. Zhangjing, the boy Yanjun had fallen for on their first meeting. Zhangjing, the boy who lit up Yanjun’s otherwise dreary Thursdays. Zhangjing, the boy who Yanjun was planning on confessing to today.

 

Frozen in his spot for a second, Jeffrey’s hard slap on his shoulder brought Yanjun back to reality, as his coworker leaned in to whisper a ‘good luck’, heading to the back in order to give Yanjun and Zhangjing some space in the unusually empty cafe. 

 

“I’ll just have the usual today. Oh, but with a green tea latte instead,” Zhangjing noted, before he commented with a voice laced with worry, “Are you okay, Yanjun? You’re sweating a bit and your face is really red.”

 

Waving it off dismissively, Yanjun quickly took down the order before suggesting to Zhangjing that he should sit down first, that his order will be there shortly. 

 

_ Breathe in through the nose, breathe out through the mouth.  _

 

Heading to the back, Yanjun grabs the roses he had bought on the way to the cafe this morning, quickly checking if they still looked fresh. Although, he’s sure the Malaysian boy would understand if he explained that he’d tried his best to keep the fragile flower in the best possible condition within their mess of a locker room. Whipping out a small, creamy white cardboard square, Yanjun tried to control the shaking of his hand as he wrote a short message, signing off with a quick “From: Your not-so-secret admirer, Lin Yanjun”

 

As he briskly walked back to the counter, Yanjun grabbed Jeffrey and slid a tray into his hands, forcing him to execute the earlier discussed plan of theirs. A determined nod was shared between the two boys and with a tray in hand, Jeffrey started towards Zhangjing’s table, where the smaller boy was seated peacefully, the golden sun of the afternoon shining upon his bouncy hair. Yanjun was further convinced that Zhangjing was, in fact, an angel who had descended upon the mortal world to bless his dull life - it was the only acceptable explanation.

 

Zhangjing looked up from his phone as footsteps approached his table, but his bright smile faltered slightly as he found himself facing Jeffrey, not Yanjun. This was a very unusual situation - ever since Zhangjing had started visiting the cafe weekly, Yanjun had never failed to bring Zhangjing’s order himself.

 

What was even more unusual, however, were the contents on the tray. One strawberry cheesecake with a white card beside it on the plate. One green tea latte with a disproportionately large heaping of whipped cream on top. _One … is that a rose?_

 

Before he could turn to Yanjun to question him, Jeffrey nudged his shoulder lightly as he walked away. “You might want to check the card first,” he quietly suggested.

 

Fixing his gaze on the small card placed faced down beside his cake, Zhangjing gently picked the cardboard up and flipped it around.

 

Dear: You Zhangjing

I like you a latte, but I'm not sure if you're whipped for me like I am for you.

That's why I bought you the rose, because I think this could be a budding romance.

What do you say? Are you willing to let a relationship bloom between us?

From: Your not-so-secret admirer, Lin Yanjun

 

Zhangjing didn't have to check a mirror to know that his face was burning red, and the sight of a shy Yanjun standing behind the counter with another rose in hand didn't do anything to soothe his blush. "You asked for pickup lines, so I gave them to you. What do you think?", the Taiwanese boy mumbles as he walks around the counter towards Zhangjing, afraid that his voice would crack and betray him. 

 

"I only asked because I wanted to hear you asking me out," Zhangjing sighs contentedly as he takes the second rose from Yanjun as they stood face to face, moving to rest his head on his chest, arms automatically wrapping around the taller boy's waist. Yanjun relaxed within his arms and the two basked in the warm atmosphere of the cafe, the only noise being the quiet hum of machinery. The two separated on as Zhangjing moved away to properly look into Yanjun's eyes.

 

"Yanjun, I don't think you're as good as puns and pickup lines as people say you are."

 

Beaming up at the Taiwanese boy and raising a finger to poke at the faint outline of his right dimple, Zhangjing's contagious heart-shaped smile seemed to be the only thing Yanjun could see in that moment.

 

"I've met a lot of cute and sweet guys in my life, but you take the cake."

 

**Author's Note:**

> { countdown to yanjun's birthday: d-6 }
> 
> sorry if this is a mess bc i was forcing myself out of my writing comfort zone .. . idk if anyone's noticed a pattern within my previous works but i kinda avoid writing fics where things actually Happen ..... ( aka why i stick to 1.~k word oneshots ) i'm much more comfortable with just creating an atmosphere & mood and having small actions take place huhu
> 
> this was also meant to be more of a coffee shop! au but i don't drink coffee at all so i realised there's too much i don't know to be able to write one skfjhksf and i just realised at the end i kinda shifted from a yanjun focus to a zhangjing focus uhhh i hope that didn't throw anyone off
> 
> the title is meant to be a twist on 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away' but idk if it worked Yikes ;; 
> 
> anyways thank you all for reading and supporting my countdown !! plugging my [twt](https://twitter.com/breadforyanjun) and [cc](https://curiouscat.me/breadforyanjun) one again uwu


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